Don’t chase titles (or money), but strive to be around the smartest people.

#5 - 10.18.20

Brother -

Let me share a warning with you. Do not chase titles or money, but rather strive to be around the smartest people with the highest standards. This is the age-old advice of,

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."

This past week, I conducted interviews with my former boss, who is building his new leadership team. Some of them were great, and others were disappointing. One interview stood out. It was with a colleague we've always had high praise for - and he seems to have lost his edge.

What happened? He took a role with a team a couple of years ago that had a reputation for being low performing. I remember him telling me why he took it. They offered him a promotion right away and a clear path for a second in a short period. He got them both.

You see - he was the smartest person in the room. He quickly ascended within the team, but lacked the manager and peers to push him to grow. What was a good financial move in the short run, may prove to be costly long-term.

Jeff Bezos wrote about this situation stating,

"High standards are contagious. Bring a new person onto a high standards team, and they'll quickly adapt. The opposite is also true."

I remember when first starting my career at Intuit. There was a team with a reputation for the highest standards—the Corporate Strategy & Development team. I knew right away that I wanted to join them.

Within one year, I was able to make the transfer. In my first week, my manager made me pull an all-nighter to finish a project, which wasn't even due until the next week. I'd have to print out slides so that he could take a red sharpie and mark-up everything I did wrong for me to fix. He challenged everything and demanded I improve every day. I loved it.

I didn't love that I worked twice as hard, with more stress than other colleagues on different teams. Despite having less impact, these colleagues were getting easier promotion paths.

This same feeling came up recently for me in my current role. I have peers in other functions, making more while doing less. I also have some friends who left the company to get significant pay increases and a fancy title, despite a far more narrow scope. Negative thoughts like, "what the hell am I still doing here?" started to creep in. 

This darkness quickly went away, though, after the interview I mentioned above. What I forgot is that I am on the team with the highest standards. Actually - now I'm leading it. Are we underpaid? sure - but this is temporary. The colleagues here are going to be the ones that go on to do great things. Colleagues that, although I manage today - I'd gladly work for in the future.

So my advice to you is to find the team with the highest standards. It won't be challenging - their reputation will precede them. Just ask your colleagues, "what team is the toughest to join and why?" 

Your career trajectory is set in the first five years after you graduate. To maximize it - push yourself harder than those around you. Don’t worry about your title or pay - this will come in time.

Let me leave you with a quote and a question.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Mahatma Gandhi 

What do you do today that will set you apart from others in the future?

Enjoy the dance,

Nate